Monthly Archives: May 2008

No quilting today but did get my errands done and look at the goodies that came in the mail from Deb. I know you can’t tell from the photo but the fat quarters are autumn colors, the squares are brown and pink, and the small baggie has an assortment of trims and items to use on postcards.

I think I’m closer to solving the vibration issue – I made an adjustment to the front wheels on the machine after speaking to a woman at the Gammill booth which made it a LOT worse. This was a good thing however because it let me know I was on the right path. I made a second adjustment and the vibration is better but still there. I know it’s something that occurred during the move because it wasn’t there before so I’m hoping with some more tweaking I can get it back to pre-move condition.

Can you see the white clamps in this next photo? This quilt belongs to Kathy, a member of HeartStrings and this morning when I was struggling to get it positioned for quilting – I decided to try out these new clamps from Tomorrow’s Heirlooms that I bought at MQS. I usually only do a full float on my really small donation quilts (crib size) and do a partial float on all the others. Who knows, after this I may start doing full floats on all of them.

Here’s a peak at the quilting – it’s a pantograph called Plumage from Willow Leaf Studio.

I’m planning on piecing some RWB HeartStrings blocks over the Memorial Day weekend that will be used in quilts for wounded soldiers. If anyone is interested in joining me – check out the HeartStrings blog where the block guidelines are posted. Chris will be visiting this weekend and I’m going to have him help sew some blocks.

I love that stores are now selling these reusable shopping bags. This morning I used this Target bag to when I walked downtown to the post office to ship packages for Mom and Deb and to FedEx Kinko’s to ship HeartStrings quilts to Nancy. Then I filled it back up at Target and walked home. I probably should have used two bags because it was a little heavy both with the packages and on the return trip.

This table is in my entry way and as you can see – it still needs work. I plan to hang a quilt on the wall behind the table and then arrange my Singer sewing machine and some photos. Maybe next weekend Keith can help me hang the quilt. The photos on the bottom shelf need to be hung too.

I also wanted to mention that I’d bought the photo CD from last year’s MQS show and have ordered this year’s CD too. The detail shots of the quilts are wonderful and are much better than the photos I took last year. This year I didn’t bother to photograph any of the quilts except for the photos of Deb with her 2nd place winning quilt.

I know you all will probably be disappointed but I decided since I’m not a gardener, that I’d put potted plants on the deck rather than planting the flower boxes. So here’s the first quilt (or maybe it’s the 2nd one) on the new deck. This goes back to Nancy and her group along with 4 other quilts to bind and donate.

How bizarre is this?? This photo is horizontal but each time I upload it – it turns itself vertical…blogger must be having a problem.

We have a neighborhood party to go to this afternoon but it was too pretty to NOT take the bikes for a short ride. The sun is shining and it’s in the mid 50’s here so we rode across the river to Boon Island Park. We found a quiet spot by the river to spread the quilt and sit in the sun for a bit. We’ve both been traveling the last couple weeks and haven’t had much time together.

Isn’t this a great view of downtown?

I’m going to try and get some labels made and Kathy’s top loaded before we leave for the party.

Just got home tonight from MQS. Deb and I had a great time and she even won a ribbon! Her quilt (designed and quilted by Deb, pieced by members of her guild) won 2nd place in the Theme category. It was very exciting.

We met up with quilters from MQResources. How fun to meet Suzanne and the others we’ve been chatting with online over the few months or so. If you haven’t joined this group for machine quilters, you should check them out.

And of course we shopped! I bought a couple new templates from Circle Lord, a couple books on background fills, Superior threads, crystals, wool felt, and probably some other things I’m forgetting right now. I’m make sure to share more information over the next couple weeks as I sort out and start using it all.

I leave tomorrow to meet Deb at MQS. We’ll be at the bar in the Sheraton Tuesday night catching up with each other – hope to see some of you there.

This afternoon I’m doing laundry and Mom and I are making some more postcards. This one is inspired again by the book Quilt Toppings: Fun and Fanciful Embellishments by Melody Crust. I’m not 100% happy with the result but I’m not unhappy either.